Recent US citizen
Aug 19th 2006, 8:54 am
#1
Guest
Posts: n/a
Recent US citizen
One of my family members just became a US citizen this year. Shortly after
acquiring a US passport, she had to leave the US and return to her place of
birth to take care of a relative. How long can she remain outside of the US
as a "new" citizen? A few people have mentioned that within the first 3 or 5
years of becoming a citizen you cannot stay outside of the US for longer than
3 months at one time. Is there any truth to this?
acquiring a US passport, she had to leave the US and return to her place of
birth to take care of a relative. How long can she remain outside of the US
as a "new" citizen? A few people have mentioned that within the first 3 or 5
years of becoming a citizen you cannot stay outside of the US for longer than
3 months at one time. Is there any truth to this?
Aug 20th 2006, 3:26 am
#2
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Recent US citizen
soninha wrote:
[...]
> as a "new" citizen? A few people have mentioned that within the first 3 or 5
> years of becoming a citizen you cannot stay outside of the US for longer than
> 3 months at one time. Is there any truth to this?
>
No
[...]
> as a "new" citizen? A few people have mentioned that within the first 3 or 5
> years of becoming a citizen you cannot stay outside of the US for longer than
> 3 months at one time. Is there any truth to this?
>
No
Aug 20th 2006, 4:19 am
#3
Retired
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 34,649
Re: Recent US citizen
Originally Posted by Soninha
One of my family members just became a US citizen this year. Shortly after
acquiring a US passport, she had to leave the US and return to her place of
birth to take care of a relative. How long can she remain outside of the US
as a "new" citizen? A few people have mentioned that within the first 3 or 5
years of becoming a citizen you cannot stay outside of the US for longer than
3 months at one time. Is there any truth to this?
acquiring a US passport, she had to leave the US and return to her place of
birth to take care of a relative. How long can she remain outside of the US
as a "new" citizen? A few people have mentioned that within the first 3 or 5
years of becoming a citizen you cannot stay outside of the US for longer than
3 months at one time. Is there any truth to this?
Aug 20th 2006, 6:43 am
#4
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Recent US citizen
"soninha" wrote:
> > A few people have mentioned that within the first
> > 3 or 5 years of becoming a citizen you cannot stay
> > outside of the US for longer than 3 months at one
> > time. Is there any truth to this?
"L D Jones" replied:
> No
It might be worth noting that, until a few years ago, the US did
have laws under which a naturalized US citizen could lose his/her
new citizenship by moving abroad for extended periods of time.
Applicants for US citizenship used to be required to state that
they intended to reside permanently in the US after naturalization.
Moving abroad within five years after obtaining US citizenship was
considered a violation of this promise (or, more precisely, it was
seen as evidence that the promise had been made in bad faith from
the beginning), and this could result in loss of US citizenship
-- but in 1986, the minimum post-naturalization residence period
was reduced by an act of Congress to one year, and in 1994 the
requirement was abolished entirely.
An even older US law called for revocation of US citizenship if a
naturalized US citizen -- at any time, no matter how long, after
becoming a citizen -- were to move abroad and live in any other
country for at least five years (three years if he/she had moved
back to his/her "old country"). This law was, however, repealed
by Congress in 1978.
At the present time, AFAIK, there is =no= requirement for a
naturalized US citizen to spend =any= amount of time in the US
after acquiring US citizenship, in order to retain citizenship.
Rich Wales [email protected] http://www.richw.org/dualcit/
*DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer, professional immigration consultant,
or consular officer. My comments are for discussion purposes only and
are not intended to be relied upon as legal or professional advice.
> > A few people have mentioned that within the first
> > 3 or 5 years of becoming a citizen you cannot stay
> > outside of the US for longer than 3 months at one
> > time. Is there any truth to this?
"L D Jones" replied:
> No
It might be worth noting that, until a few years ago, the US did
have laws under which a naturalized US citizen could lose his/her
new citizenship by moving abroad for extended periods of time.
Applicants for US citizenship used to be required to state that
they intended to reside permanently in the US after naturalization.
Moving abroad within five years after obtaining US citizenship was
considered a violation of this promise (or, more precisely, it was
seen as evidence that the promise had been made in bad faith from
the beginning), and this could result in loss of US citizenship
-- but in 1986, the minimum post-naturalization residence period
was reduced by an act of Congress to one year, and in 1994 the
requirement was abolished entirely.
An even older US law called for revocation of US citizenship if a
naturalized US citizen -- at any time, no matter how long, after
becoming a citizen -- were to move abroad and live in any other
country for at least five years (three years if he/she had moved
back to his/her "old country"). This law was, however, repealed
by Congress in 1978.
At the present time, AFAIK, there is =no= requirement for a
naturalized US citizen to spend =any= amount of time in the US
after acquiring US citizenship, in order to retain citizenship.
Rich Wales [email protected] http://www.richw.org/dualcit/
*DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer, professional immigration consultant,
or consular officer. My comments are for discussion purposes only and
are not intended to be relied upon as legal or professional advice.
Aug 22nd 2006, 2:22 pm
#5
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Recent US citizen
> One of my family members just became a US citizen this year. Shortly after
> acquiring a US passport, she had to leave the US and return to her place of
> birth to take care of a relative. How long can she remain outside of the US
> as a "new" citizen? A few people have mentioned that within the first 3 or 5
> years of becoming a citizen you cannot stay outside of the US for longer than
> 3 months at one time. Is there any truth to this?
There were such restrictions at one time. But they no longer exist.
> acquiring a US passport, she had to leave the US and return to her place of
> birth to take care of a relative. How long can she remain outside of the US
> as a "new" citizen? A few people have mentioned that within the first 3 or 5
> years of becoming a citizen you cannot stay outside of the US for longer than
> 3 months at one time. Is there any truth to this?
There were such restrictions at one time. But they no longer exist.
